Heimat: A Rare Modern German Eatery Bracing Hong Kong's F&B Scene

Heimat stands proud in Hong Kong’s multicultural food and beverage scene as the sole venue for German fine-dining. Curated by master Chef Peter Find, the eatery invites three decades of Michelin-starred haute cuisine experience to the Lan Kwai Fong Tower.

The restaurant represents a homecoming and personal project for Find, who has spent stints at Mandarin Oriental and Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong. Translating to ‘homeland’ in German, Heimat imports a congenial warmth and recipe collection hailing from his central German hometown, through the Black Forest, Berlin, Dresden, Cologne, and Stutgart.

Heimat enters a zealous F&B space with drive to present the beauty of German food in a fine-dining format: hearty, meaty, yet elegant with simple flavours that challenge us on how European food can be defined.

Venue and Atmosphere

Housed in a decadent and clean space designed by famed interior designers JJ Acuna, Find mans a part-German, part-international culinary team to bring Germanic flavours and ingredients to new heights.

At Heimat, the fine culinary art is not the only element stressed, but attention is paid greatly to a comprehensive dining experience as well. The interior blends a mix of soft ocean hues, mellow beiges, and oaky brown wood colours to paint a soothing atmosphere for dining.

Food and Drink

I had a chance to enjoy a five-course tasting menu at Heimat in late autumn, sampling fine creations of fish, meat, vegetable and sweet-powered dishes. The first course began with the Mache-Salat, a cold weather salad using mache leaves, served alongside charred lemon and grapefruit, and two decadent ribbons of beetroot.

In lieu of a snappy protein to kickstart the meal, the crisp skin of the ante-tangy fruit pickings play well with its sweetness. The beetroot covers a delicate combination of raw umami and a pickled honey flavour that teases the tongue upon each bite.

Pairing each course with a glass of mixed gin cocktails, the next course, Geräucherter Schwarzwälder Schinken, boasted rich flavors of umami that lingered on the tongue, serving a 58-degree poached egg on a bed of smoked Black Forest mushroom foam and topped with sautéed forest mushrooms.

Whilst I am a fan of 60-degree cooked eggs and 50-degree cooked eggs (don’t get me started on 55-degree cooked eggs!), the poached egg burst when punctured, mixing with the broth and bites of mushroom that served well for a spooning of the rich, creamy broth, and the homebaked pretzel that I used to scoop up the remaining juices after.

The Hummer Eintopf, a Dover Sole Fish filet served in a fish-broth bisque and carrot and celery pot-au-feu, followed next as the third course.

The fish filet served atop the bisque featured a pleasant salt and oil coating that allowed the fruity flesh of the dover sole to shine through in this dish. However, I am a fiend of salt, and so I wished the broth carried a stronger savory aftertaste, as compared with my other diners who shared a lobster bisque.

As promised by the fourth course, Zwiebelrostbraten Prime Beef Sirloin, was prefaced by my fellow guest that it may land as the finest beef I have tasted in Hong Kong. Served with onions and prepared three ways – sauteed to caramelization, pureed, and dehydrated – while being complemented with scrumptious hand shaved German spätzle, this dish promised a lot and delivered even more.

Expectedly, within its category of medium rare prime beef sirloin cuts served with its own jus, Heimat’s beef dish rates within the top three of steaks I have tasted in Hong Kong: it boasts a warm pear-plum inside that is matched delicately with a salty exterior warming the tongue. The three ways of onion was spectacular in drawing sweetness into the mix, whilst the spätzle is purely addicting with a hint of nutmeg as a surprise

Dinner at Heimat ended with a fifth and final course of Apfel Streusel Kuchen, featuring a spiced baked apple with a cinnamon crumble cake and walnut ice cream served.

I didn’t need a second stomach to contend with a sweet dish that offered oppositional texture combinations, namely the sweet and frothy apple with the crunchy crumble of the cinnamon cake, working together to play with the tongue.

Verdict

Heimat is a restaurant that has to be on your hit list for an experience unlike any other, especially in a city where German, let alone fine-dining German spaces, are exceptionally rare. For your next visit, we suggest you order the Chef’s Story (HK$1280), a six-course tasting menu bringing you alongside a journey through Chef Find’s hometown and childhood, with seasonal dishes featuring Brittany Lobster, chestnut soup, cabbage rolls, beef sirloin cuts, and chocolate mousse.

This food review is based on a complimentary media tasting provided by Heimat in exchange for a truthful review and no compensation. The opinions expressed within represent the views of the author.